Does the happily ever after exist.....

How often did you grow up hearing stories of fairytales or read them? I loved reading them and getting lost in the stories, sometimes pretending I was Little Red Riding Hood or when I would play outside I would pretend that I could speak with the animals and I would be Snow White, at some time we all want to believe that we are a princess and marry a prince, but as I grew older I realized that those stories like movies were fantasy and I surely wasn't a princess, so alas where did that leave my prince?
My interests and goals changed, I traded my fairytales for Jane Austin, Anne Rice, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou, Virginia Wolfe, Walt Whitman, and not to mention the many school books that I studied.
My world got bigger and complicated, of course heartbreaks and the tears that followed; wondering where was my fairy godmother?

And then one day, out of the blue and unexpected I met my man, he wasn't a prince by any means, but he did something no other man could do, he tore down my brick wall that I had built around myself and captured my heart. And I knew from the moment I met him, that I was going to marry that man.....and eventually I did.
Has it been happily ever after, of course not, this isn't a movie, but do I feel like like my fairytale has come true? Indeed...in fact, if you were to look on my checks there is a saying, "fairytales do come true." It may not be with glitz, sparkles, or a rescue from a tower, but I feel like it.
I wasn't looking to get married, I wasn't looking to have a family, I was focused on me and then unexpectedly some random guy comes along and completely changes my life, but do I believe that marriage and kids is the key to a happily ever after? No, what I do think the key to finding your happily ever after is what you define as your fairytale.
If you've been dreaming of Mr. Right, your 2.5 kids and your house with the picket fence all your life and it still hasn't happened, if you are happy who cares, but if you are are not happy because you don't have those things, perhaps you need to change your focus or your idea of what a fairytale is....for me it didn't matter about the pretty princess finding love, my favorite part about a fairytale was trying to discover the lesson in the tale; that good overcomes bad.

And of course, in life we don't always have a happy endings, but I figure if I am 98% of the time happy, then by all means I've reached my happily ever after.
Don't spend your life focusing on all the things you don't have, focus on the things that make you happy and then you'll find your happily ever after.

"If you happen to read fairy tales, you will observe that one idea runs from one end of them to the other--the idea that peace and happiness can only exist on some condition. This idea, which is the core of ethics, is the core of the nursery-tales." - G.K. Chesterton

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." - Albert Einstein

Favorite Words

So this morning we are getting ready for our day and my sweet pea has a new affliction for words. So, I casually ask her what her favorite word is.....she thinks and says, "can I have two?" I nod and she says, "diamond" and "family," so I'm thinking those are two very different words and ask her why are those your favorites. And she says, "I like the way "diamond" sounds and the shape and it's a mineral (okay, Ms. Science?!)
So, then of course I have to ask my little man, who is patiently waiting for his sister to finish, so he can say loud and proud, "din-o-saur" and before I can even ask why, he says, "I like it because it's just cool."

And what surprised me the most is that I would never have guessed those words to be their favorite words, had someone ask me this, I would have said something like "princess" and "superhero," so I guess after all their worlds are more than just what they surround themselves with.

Of course, they asked me and so I told them, which is "magnanimous" and before I could tell them why, my little man, says, "why is it because it is a long word?" and I said, no I like the way it sounds and then I gave them the meaning of the word.

Magnanimous - showing a couragous spirit and/or generous in forgiving

What are some of your favorite words?

"In a serious struggle there is no worse cruelty than to be magnanimous at an inopportune time." - Leon Trotsky

"We all have a dinosaur deep within us just trying to get out." - Colin Mochrie

"I loved being outside. We'd hold lightning bugs in our fingers and pretend they were diamond rings." - Loretta Lynn

Never have expectations......

Life lesson, never have expectations and you will never be disappointed with how things turn out. It sounds simple enough right? Hopefully, I can start practicing it. My mistake is I hold people to the same expectations that I hold myself and thus disappointed when things don't go the way I anticipated.

"A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her." - Maya Angelou

My Brave Little Sweet Pea

Today my little sweet pea had her tonsils and adenoids out. She was such a brave girl, we tried to talk about it once we found out that she needed them removed, but she wouldn't. Then last night, she said she was frighten and so we talked about her concerns and she seemed better. She asked if she would have visitors come over and I said I'm sure you will.
This morning, she was simply quite and remained that way the entire time. The surgery didn't take that long, approximately 30 minutes and then onto recovery, where she sat as I rubbed her little feet.
When they came to get her, I started to cry a bit, not that I was afraid, but I definitely would have traded places with her if I could have, I hate seeing my children upset or in pain, but I quickly stopped as I didn't want her to see me get upset. She was sick a couple times prior to us leaving and has been a few more times since we've been home, but overall, she is taking in liquids and resting. We haven't seen any tears, she is just being our brave little girl and I'm so proud of her!
She was excited when I walked in the room holding flowers that my sister had brought for her. She knew exactly who they were from without even reading the card and my sister didn't have to do it, especially considering we had a falling out a couple months ago.
My little man has been a big helper, watching over his sister and when we were eating dinner, she rang her bell and he said, "don't worry I'll get this one." I've got two of the best kids ever!

"Children make you want to start life over." Muhammad Ali

Roots of Happiness.....

I have picked up a new book titled, Torn by Sarah Parent Walravens. It is a collection of stories from real-life mothers who have faced the decision of whether to continue with their careers or stay-at-home, but the commonality of it is the fact that women are "torn" by their decisions.

I can only speak for myself, but at times I definitely felt torn and whether or not the decisions I made and make are the "right" ones for my family. For any mother, I think we are our own worst enemy. I have learned early on to not compare myself to moms because at the end of the day, I can only do what works for me. When I first decided to leave my full-time job, I struggled with the decision, but when I put the decision in perspective of the overall bigger picture, I realized that my kids are small once, when they are grown I can never go back to replace that time. And even though my kids are still small, looking back, I'm happy I did it. I've got two of the best kids ever and I wouldn't trade any of the moments spent with them.


I will be the first to admit that I'm stern with my kids and they know that, but they are also learning that if they tell the truth, they don't get in trouble (and it's already been tested). I'm also not afraid to be silly with them, they know if they ask me I'll catch fireflies, I play freeze tag, and I will certainly dance and sing as loud as I can. At the end of the day, all I want is that my kids go to bed each and every night knowing how much I love them and I think they do.


I'm not a perfect mom, I've made mistakes and I'm sure I'll make plenty of more along the way, but I'm also not trying to be the perfect mom. I'm not trying to be a "cool" mom, I'm just trying to raise two little ones who grow into responsible individuals who believe in dreams, who believe in themselves, who aspire to be more, and who are willing to work for what they want.

"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies." P. Aretino


“Unless your heart, your soul, and your whole being are behind every decision you make, the words from your mouth will be empty, and each action will be meaningless. Truth and confidence are the roots of happiness." - Unknown

Random thoughts on my mind.....

It's late and I've got so much going on in my mind that I thought I'd share....perhaps then I can go to bed and not toss/turn.
I've been having crazy dreams for the last several nights, so crazy that I wake up most nights, I feel like it is almost like a warning , but the dreams are so vastly different that I can't make sense of it.
And then today, I learned something that just sadden me to my core and it makes me wonder does normalcy exist in families? Yes, we all have those quirks, but do most families get along or is there tension most of the time?
Sometimes it is like watching a train wreck before it has even happened and no matter how many warnings you throw, nothing changes, but then wonder why the train wrecked? I just don't get it., but a lot of times we view things the way we want to see things versus the way it actually is.
Also, the Christchurch area was hit with not one, but two more earthquakes (aftershocks) one was 5.5 and then another struck which was over 6.0 - I keep thinking when will this city get a break, how much more can one city sustain? Christchurch was such a vibrant and beautiful city and as we were putting the kids to bed and I said a prayer for those in Christchurch my kids asked some questions and what struck me was that they will never get to see the city how I remember it and how it was because I don't think it will ever be the same, which is sad. The people there are strong and resilient, but enough already.
Is something bigger coming? I really don't know, but I suppose it just makes you want to be with the ones who really do matter the most.

"My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot." ~Ashleigh Brilliant

And so summer begins.....

This is the first week the kids have been out of school, my sweet pea is having a hard time adjusting. She likes being home, but I've caught her in her room sobbing. She is missing her friends and her teacher. And although I have tried to comfort her, it seems like it is one of those moments in her life where it is beyond mommy's reach. It is not like a cut or scrap that I can kiss and make it all better because even though I tell her it will be okay, it is not helping her.

The kids begin swimming lessons soon, so I'm hoping that will take her mind off it.

I think this is the first "growing" pain that we have encountered and I know there will be more to come, but as a mom, I feel so helpless in those moments, when my words are not comforting and it is just one of the many life experiences to come. At least she is feeling better about moving into 1st grade. My little man is doing fine, he still enjoys being at home, but towards the end of the year, he would get mad that I would pick him up, so I think he will enjoy going all-day next year.

Our front landscaping is finally finished (for the most part). We are not done with the wine bottle border, we ran out of blue bottles so as soon as we get more blue bottles we can finish the border and we need quite a lot. I could go on more, but I have to get the kiddies to bed....

"A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life." - James Allen